Aretha Franklin has cancelled her upcoming concert in Massachusetts due to ill health.
The 75-year-old soul icon was due to headline the second annual Martha’s Vineyard Concert Series at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, on August 19 but due to an undisclosed medical issue she has had to pull out.
Production company Innovation Arts & Entertainment confirmed the ‘Respect’ singer had cancelled in a statement which read: "The staff of MV Concert Series wishes Ms. Franklin a full recovery and holds out hope that we may someday host the Queen of Soul in concert."
As the proposed concert date is just weeks away, organisers have not been able to find a replacement artist and as a result any ticket holder will be granted a full refund.
This is the fourth show Aretha has pulled out of due to unknown health issues, with the legend also calling off appearances in Chicago and Toronto.
Back in 2010, Aretha was forced to cancel a series of shows to undergo emergency abdominal surgery.
The ‘Think’ hitmaker has already announced that she will be retiring in 2017 after her final album, a collaboration with Stevie Wonder, is released this September. Aretha wants to step away from music in order to spend more time with her grandchildren and her family.
She previously said: "I must tell you, I am retiring this year. I feel very, very enriched and satisfied with respect to where my career came from and where it is now."
Aretha – who still intends to play occasional shows – has promised that her final LP will be a love letter to her hometown Detroit – the home of Motown Records – and will be comprised of new songs all of which are to be recorded in the Motor City.
Aretha – who was born in Memphis but raised in Detroit from the age of five – has enjoyed a career packed with highlights and unique achievements since her first album was released back in 1956.
The artist has had over 20 number one singles in the US and won the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance eight years in a row – from 1968 to 1975 and in 1987 she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2005.
Aretha Franklin cancels Massachusetts concert
